Overview:
Illusion of Joy was conceived as my musical project. The intention was to eventually form a backing band and slowly "take over the world," which may happen, but hasn't -yet.
The story begins in Potsdam, a village located in Northern New York where I'd lived since 1988 and in which I'd gone to college since 1998. After several months of playing in the local coffeehouse and the open-mic night on the SUNY Potsdam campus, Claude Aldous, head of Jetpack Records and local indie rock god, approached me. He said that I should get some of my music recorded and that he could do it for a reasonable rate. In the summer of 2000, I spent 13 hours in a studio located on one of the back roads outside of Potsdam recording Crystalline, an EP of four songs.
Crystalline was fairly well-received, selling copies into the double-digit range. Meanwhile, those who were given a copy of the disc rarely ever returned it. The EP was released through Anhedonia Records, a label made up of a five-way partnership between the members of a local band based out of Albany and myself. Perpetually in the red and masters of the burned copy, the label did about as well as could be expected when one has little capital to draw upon. Still, during my tenure on the label, it was able to put out three total releases, all burned of course. My only regret is that I killed my computer printer, in an attempt to make several dozen CD booklets.
Meanwhile, live performances remained in the form of the solo open-mic show as a backing band never materialized and, as one detractor whom made a "hate site" about me put it, "wanna-be Goth bitch boy can't get any gigs anywhere else."
The musical project pressed on, as my college career slowly disintegrated. However, one class where I received glowing marks was "Recording Studio Techniques." John Junklaus, whose main area of expertise lies in the remastering of old jazz records, taught the class. While Illusion of Joy bears little resemblance to Charlie Barnett, Junklaus was so impressed by my music and my drive in the class, that he allowed me to record Bitter over several months of extracurricular sessions.
The album was released via the now defunct MP3.com, along with a reissue of its predecessor in late 2002. Suffice it to say that Bitter was widely ignored, despite containing the open-mic hits "Billie Jo" and "Ebony." It and Crystalline went out of print, when the site closed in December of 2003. There are no plans to reissue these releases, so if you have a copy, either hold onto it or jack the price way up if you're selling it on eBay.
In early 2003, I had moved to Pittsburgh after my ties to college had been severed. This move also brought about the dissolution of Anhedonia Records as I had known it. To put it succinctly: the other band on the label decided that personal gain was more important than musical camaraderie. This unnamed band has not put out any new material since 2002.
Despite the setback of losing what effectively amounted to just web space, I still pushed forward and recorded yet another album. Sound waves were laid down at Masochist Monkey Studios, also known as the recording room at Joe Stacy's apartment. Stacey had moved to the city a year prior and was continually working on his own musical project, Masochist Monkey Circus. The new Illusion of Joy album was titled Division and released in April of 2004 on HPL Laboratories.
During the time I was recording Division, illusionofjoy.net marked the return of my musical project to cyberspace. I was also active in auditioning to become a DJ for a local Goth night – a blatant attempt to turn the skills I’d acquired during my days of college radio into a paying gig. Despite several turns in the DJ booth and favourable comments from patrons, I was not hired. Furthermore, getting Division or any album by Illusion of Joy played at the club inexplicably became well nigh impossible. Go figure.
While sales for Division were few and far-between, downloads for tracks from the album such as "Is There Some Way Out Of Here?" "Beloved" and "Right Wing Radio" seemed quite healthy in comparison. It was in November of 2004 that an Illusion of Joy page at MySpace was opened, which brought back the streaming media that had been sorely missed since the demise of MP3.com. Currently over 1,000 other MySpace members are pretending to like Illusion of Joy, but are probably really just looking at the page to make fun of my profile photos.
If 2004 was the year of musical disappointment, 2005 was the year where everything dissolved, making room for things to be rebuilt. Early in 2005, my personal and professional relationship with Joe Stacey ended on very unfavourable terms. As access to his studio closed to me, I had just finished building my own studio. Mercifully, I was able to rescue the masters to Division right before our falling-out.
It was during the summer of 2005 that work began on another album. Titled The Forever Syndrome, the album is set for release in 2006. That said, a single from the disc – 'A Place Outside' – was released in November of the year, marking Illusion of Joy's departure from HPL Laboraties and move to Randy's Alternative Music (this would be the fourth label I've been on, for those of you keeping track).
November 2005 also saw the opening of an online kiosk where purchasing Illusion of Joy CDs was finally as easy as entering a credit card number (or debit card, or PayPal account). 'A Place Outside' marked the first item ever available for purchase from illusionofjoy.net. In the near future, there will be a re-release of Division on Randy's Alternative Music as well as the debut of The Forever Syndrome, both of which will be available from this store. Someday there might even be T-shirts.
There are still no live shows planned, however.
--Seth Warren; Tuesday, November 8 th , 2005
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